A change of fly was in order - this new fly, being a lot smaller & lot lighter, was a comparitive dream to cast but, that was by the by, the main reason in the switch was to use a less fussy lure where there'd be more chance of the Pike taking the hook than it's teeth setting into the fur n feather... 
Started punching this big Perchy looking fly out into the tail of the pool, which feels a bit like casting a bath sponge on string when you're more used to chucking out small dries. A few casts later as I was watching the lures action as it neared the bank a decent Pike shot out of the murk and hit the fly, the rod bent double & I was into a fight but, just as I had it beat & was reaching for the net the fish just seemed to open its mouth & let go of the lure. The same thing happened on two more occasions, I think this may be due to the fish grabbing the streamer material and the hook not setting properly - before my next trip I need to look at modifying these flies.
This has spurred me on to get out again in the next few days & tackle them with my heavy fly set up...
We spent the day searching the likely looking riffles & pools with heavy nymphs to no avail, I tried to convince myself that our lack of success was due to another angler who had been wading the same stretch prior to us. It was encouraging to see a small hatch of olives mid afternoon but, they failed to bring any of the Grayling to the surface & reveal their whereabouts to us.
